| LATEST NEWS |
Annual Report 2011-2012
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India Bans Captive Dolphin Shows as ‘Morally Unacceptable’ - May 20th
India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests has decided to forbid the keeping of captive dolphins for public entertainment anywhere in the country. Read more
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Poachers Kill Two Kaziranga Rhinos - May 25th
The dead carcasses of two rhinos were discovered in two separate areas of Kaziranga National Park. Their missing horns and open gunshot wounds confirm the act of poaching. Read more
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Deadly Virus Threatens Lion Population of India
A deadly virus that wiped out a significant number of wild lions in the African Serengeti in mid 1990s is now threatening Gir- home to India's only population of lions. Read more
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Rajasthan Launches Last-Ditch Effort to Save The Great Indian Bustard
A last-ditch effort to save the Great Indian Bustard, once a candidate for the national bird of India, was launched last week in Rajasthan, with a budget of tens of millions of rupees. Read more
----------------------------------------------------Asian Tigers At Risk From Domestic Dog Distemper Virus
Some of the world's rarest big cat species are facing a potentially deadly threat from a virus carried by domestic dogs, a wildlife expert has warned. Read more
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Swine Flu Found in Elephant Seals in California
The H1N1 virus strain that caused a 2009 swine flu outbreak in humans was detected in northern elephant seals off the coast of central California.
Scientists say this is the first time marine mammals have been found to carry the H1N1 flu strain, which originated in pigs. The seals seem to have picked up the virus while at sea, but it's unclear how this happened. Read more
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SNAPSHOTS
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PUKAAR project - Lantana article training by TCF- Kanha
The Corbett Foundation arranged for a training program in Kanha, under the PUKAAR project-a joint initiative of Axis bank Foundation and TCF. This program aimed to provide livelihood options to the local communities, thereby reducing the pressure on the forest resource of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. In addition, it will also help in weed eradication from the forest. The training commenced on May 15th, and lasted for 2 weeks.
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Krushi Rath Pashu Mela 2013 – Kutch
Kutch Ecological Research Centre (KERC) has been an active participant in the Krushi Rath Pashu Mela - a Gujarat government initiative in Abdasa taluka. The program commenced on May 14th and was completed on May 28th. This collaboration between the government of Gujarat and KERC has proven to be beneficial for hundreds of cattle – Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is a predominant concern in Kutch, and vaccines against this disease were administered to the cattle. Apart from this, hundreds of animals suffering from varied ailments were treated. A few of the villages that have benefitted from this program are listed ahead: Sindhodi, Khirsara Vinjan, Naredi, Vamoti nani, Hamirpar, Jakhau, Sunodro moti, Parjau, Khirsara kothara, Amarvandh, Khirsara vinjan, Bhachoonda, among others.
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DONATE ONLINE
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The donations to The Corbett Foundation are exempt u/s 80-G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Corbett Foundation is registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976 under registration no.231650853. Indian and overseas donors can make use of our safe and secured online payment gateway facility to make your donation NOW.
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| PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION |
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The Corbett Foundation would like to thank the Axis Bank Foundation, Pirojsha Godrej Foundation, Bombay Gowrakshak Trust, Wildlife Conservation Trust, Rare Species Fund / Preservation Stations, Michael Ackroyd, Harry Robbins, Daryl Arakaki for their generous support towards TCF's activities and programmes.
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KIDS CORNER
Online QUIZ
Take an online Quiz and test your knowledge about wildlife and environment. Get, set, go...
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Contact us ...
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Registered Office:
P.O. Dhikuli, Ramnagar,
Dist. Nainital, Uttarakhand 244715
Administrative Office:
81-88, Atlanta, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, INDIA
Tel. No. +91 22 61466417
Fax No. +91 22 61466499
info@corbettfoundation.org www.corbettfoundation.org
Copyright © 2012
THE CORBETT FOUNDATION
All rights reserved.
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Message from the Chairman
Dear friends,
Last month, the State of Uttarakhand experienced several days of unseasonal and exceptionally heavy rainfall resulting in devastating flash floods and landslides. Many villages located in Uttarkashi, Rishikesh, Joshimath, etc. were badly affected and we have seen television images of houses, buildings, temples, religious idols, all swept away due to the sheer force of the river. The poor villagers, who make a living out of the pilgrims and tourists during this season, lost their only means of making a livelihood and, also sadly, their homes.
Uttarakhand is home to many pilgrimage sites, such as Badrinath, and Kedarnath, apart from being a popular tourist destination. At least 70,000 tourists and pilgrims were caught unaware and were stranded without any access to food, water or dry shelter. The landslides caused massive damage to houses and even medium-rise brick and mortar buildings were not spared. The official number of casualties is more than 10,000 and many thousands of villagers have been rendered homeless.
In the past, many scientists and environmentalists had warned the Government about the serious repercussions of developmental activities, especially the Tehri project undertaken in the ecologically-fragile Himalayas. Mass deforestation, lack of a suitable buffer between the Himalayan rivers such as the Ganga and human settlements on its banks, haphazard construction of new roads, buildings, dams, mining and hydro-electric projects across the State, had exacerbated this destruction.
Back in September 2010, similar flash floods also wrecked havoc to the entire state of Uttarakhand. Faced with the seriousness of the situation, The Corbett Foundation (TCF) raised donations and its team based in Dhikuli, sprung into action and immediately initiated the flood relief measures in some of the villages situated along the banks of River Kosi. TCF provided the affected villagers temporary housing, cooking utensils, blankets, medical aid, food and other essential supplies on a priority basis. Our team members crossed rivers on rafts, to reach flood-hit villages. At the risk of endangering their own lives, our doctors and other staff spared no efforts in distributing essential supplies and medical services to the victims.
The current situation is of a much larger magnitude compared to the floods in 2010. We earnestly request you once again to join hands with us and assist us in our mission to render help quickly to these poor villagers, who are trapped between the flood waters and living in these hostile environment.
Your donations to The Corbett Foundation will enable us to provide much needed and speedy medical treatment, temporary shelters and sustenance to the victims.
Thank you.
DILIP D. KHATAU
CHAIRMAN
THE CORBETT FOUNDATION
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23 villages around Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to be no-go zones for resorts
In order to allow free passage for wildlife, the local advisory committee (LAC) of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) has proposed no go zones for resorts in 23 villages close to the tiger reserve.The 23 ecological sensitive areas surrounding the reserve include where new resorts or expansion of existing ones will not be allowed include Thanegaon, Junona, Dewada, Adegaon, Agarzari, Chorgaon, Nimbala, Pahmi, Haldi, Khutwanda (Dixit), Doni, Zari, Pangdi, Piparheti, Moharli, Sitarampeth, Karwa, Pandharwani, Chichghat, Ambezari, Ghosri, Mamla, and Fulzari.The revenue authorities have been asked not to grant non-agriculture (NA) permission in these areas for any new tourism facilities. However, home stays to be run by only villagers will be allowed.
Now attempts are being made by the resort lobby to drop Moharli, Khutwanda and Ghosri from the list where a lot of stakes are involved. A meeting has been called on May 20 to discuss the issue at divisional commissioner BV Gopala Reddy's office. ‘’Last year, Tadoba officials had stopped construction of a resort by a Nagpur-based hotelier in Moharli after tiger pugmarks were found on his premises. There is regular tiger presence in Ghosri, Moharli and Khutwanda where some resorts already exist. Some of these villages were also in the news for recent conflict. Any further development would prove detrimental for tigers," said Bandu Dhotre, honorary district wildlife warden for Chandrapur.
As per the ecotourism guidelines by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in order to allow free passage to wildlife, development should be sensitive to the conservation of flora and fauna and the corridor value of the area. Besides, the guidelines also say no to new tourist facilities on forest lands.
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| PUKAAR project
TCF - Corbett : Under the PUKAAR Vocational Training Programme, a collaborative programme between TCF and Axis Bank Foundation, a training programme on basic nursing skills was launched on the 3rd of June, 2013. A total of twelve aspirants undertook the course, and were taught the basic skills of nursing. Such programmes are conducted with the objective of improving the livelihood prospects of villagers by helping them discover various sustainable sources of income.
TCF - Kanha : A training on 'Soft-toys making' commenced on May 26th, training a total of 20 women in 2 weeks in Devri, situated in the buffer zone of Kanha Tiger Reserve.
TCF - Bandhavgarh : A training programme on the art of Incense Stick making was conducted in Ranchha village, Bandhavgarh. A group of 21 women were short-listed and trained under this initiative, which commenced on 22nd May.
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World No Tobacco Day - May 31st
World No Tobacco Day is an initiative started by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 in an attempt to increase awareness about the detrimental effects of tobacco, and thereby curb its consumption.
In India, approximately 1.2 lakh deaths occur each year due to tobacco usage - it is estimated that more than one-third of Indian adults (35%) use tobacco some form or the other.
The Corbett foundation organized an awareness programme on this occasion in Katangi, a village located in the buffer zone of the Kanha Tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh. This programme aimed at educating the villagers about the ill-effects of smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco in an attempt to reduce tobacco consumption in that area. The residents of the village were informed about various cancers (primarily of the mouth and lungs) which are caused by tobacco usage, including details on early signs and symptoms of the disease. This programme was attended by the village sarpanch, along with many avid villagers.
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FUN FACT OF THE MONTH
Did you know that flamingoes can eat only when their heads are upside down?
Flamingoes are filter feeders, which means they feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure.
How do they do it? Flamingoes have been observed to introduce their beak into water, tilted upside down, and move their heads from side-to-side. Their tongues function like pumps, sucking water into the front of the bill and then squeezing it out through the sides, in a rhythm of 20 times per minute. Fringed plates on their tongues trap algae and little crustaceans from the circulating water.
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